Category Archives: Film

Very proud to have contributed music to We Are Many (along with Brian Eno and Simon Russell), a feature documentary about the largest global protest in history preceding the Iraq war in 2003 – and how the small group of people behind it started a movement that ultimately led to the Arab Spring…

With contributions from Tony Benn, Mark Rylance, Ken Loach, Richard Branson, Damon Alburn, Noam Chomsky and a host of others, the film was many years in the making, directed by Amir Amirani.

Released in cinemas on 22nd May 2015, with a live Q+A on 21st May at Curzon Mayfair chaired by Jon Snow, the film has already received some brilliant reviews..

Continuing a brilliantly creative relationship with ad agency Wieden + Kennedy (having previously contributed music to award winning campaigns including Lurpak, Tesco Christmas and most recently Finish) I’ve just completed work on composing music for a new film for Arla Skyr called “The Messenger”. Beautifully shot by Dougal Wilson through Blink, the short was filmed in Iceland and tells the story of a young messenger..

Very pleased that Hamlet staring Maxine Peake will be released in cinemas on 23rd March. Originally produced by the Manchester Royal Exchange in 2014 and directed by Sarah Frankcom, the screen version was produced by Anne Beresford and directed by Margret Williams, and getting some brilliant reviews. For more information visit the film website here.

After so many people have asked over the last couple of years since McCullin was released, I have produced a very limited run of CD’s of my music score (previously only available as a digital iTunes download). These can be purchased from my Bandcamp site by clicking here(or alternatively email via the contact page).

The music won a Music + Sound Award for Best Feature Film Score in 2014, and a version of “Biafra” featured on violinist Daniel Hope’sSpheres album for Deutsche Grammophon which reached no 1 in the UK and no 3 in the US Classical Billboard charts. It also featured on Classic FM’s Chillout album. The film was also nominated for two BAFTA’s including Best Documentary and Outstanding Debut.

The CD case is made of thick cardboard and each is numbered and signed.

The follow up film, Attacking The Devil, which I have also scored, was the recent winner of Sheffield Documentary Festival and will be released in cinemas later in 2015.

Very happy to have contributed music to The Departure, a short film directed by Gillian Anderson (her directorial debut) produced by the Young Vic Theatre and The Guardian. Inspired by Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, this prequel sees Blanche DuBois in the days before she arrives at her sister Stella’s home (and the start of the play).

Gillian also played Blanche in the Young Vic production of Streetcar directed by Benedict Andrews in 2014, on which I was also composer.

The film is available to watch in full on the Guardian’s website here.

The music score from the production is available to listen online and download here.

I’ve been lucky to have been involved with some brilliant projects this year, many of which have been included in a number of the “Best of 2014″ lists that are inevitably played out every run up to Christmas. Here are some of my favourites-

The Cripple of Inishmaan transferred to Broadway in April – directed by Michael Grandage & staring Daniel Radcliffe, it gained six Tony nominations (including one for me for best Sound Design). It featured in a number of “Best of..” lists including Ben Brantley from the New York Times and Time Magazine’s “Top Plays and Musicals 2014″.

Kes,my first full length ballet, opened at the Sheffield Crucible in February, choreographed by Jonathan Watkins. It got some fantastic reviews and responses from the Sheffield audience, and featured in The Guardian’s top 10. Keep an eye/ear out for its return…

Greanpeace’s Lego Campaign against Shell attracted a lot of attention (attaining nearly 7 million views on Youtube at time of writing) and was so successful that Lego subsequently ended it’s £70m contract with the oil giant. I re-arranged the song “Everything is Awesome” for the film along with vocalist Sophie Blackburn. The film was even parodied by a Danish TV show…

Fathers and Sons directed by the brilliant Lyndsey Turner at the Donmar Warehouse also appeared in Michael Billington’s top theatre of 2014..

If that wasn’t enough, it was the year that McCullin won Best Feature Film Score at the Music + Sound Awards in Cannes (and “Biafra” was performed from Daniel Hope’s album Spheres.. also finding itself onto Classic FM’s Chillout album); its sequel Attacking The Devil won Sheffield Documentary festival; A Streetcar Named Desire was broadcast across the world for NT Live from the Young Vic; Hamlet was filmed for cinema release at the Royal Exchange Theatre; the animated promo for Stand Up To Cancer was broadcast simultaneously across all UK television channels; and nearly thirty films for Tesco’sChristmas TV advertising campaign were arranged and recorded in Abbey Road with a brass band. Not to mention The Merchant of Venice transferring to the Almeida in London from the RSC; East is East opening in the West End; The Last Days of Troy written by poet Simon Armitage at the Royal Exchange; and a whole host of other brilliant collaborations that are due out next year.

A good friend of mine, director Martin Stirling came to me with an idea for a short film he was working on for Greenpeace. Martin makes beautiful films (including Myron & Hester on my audio/video page) and this one was no exception. It was a campaign to get Lego thinking about their relationship with Shell – who have been selling Lego playsets of arctic oil drilling platforms and oil tankers aimed at children.

Produced by agency Don’t Panic, the film went viral quickly amassing nearly 6 million hits, attaining “ad of day” for Campaign and featured in the Creative Review.

I produced and arranged the music in my studio – with myself on piano and the super talented Sophie Blackburn on vocals. It is a slow remix of the track “Everything is Awesome” written for the recent Lego Movie.

The news came today that Lego won’t be renewing it’s partnership with shell after the success of Greenpeace’s campaign (read more in the Guardian article here). Which is great news. I guess we can change stuff, little by little…

ABOUT ALEX

Alex Baranowski is a Tony nominated composer and arranger based in Central London.

His diverse work in film, theatre and music has recently led him to collaborate with The xx, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, violinist Daniel Hope, and composing for twice BAFTA nominated feature film "McCullin" (for which he won a Music + Sound International Award for Best Feature Film Score at Cannes).

For theatre he has composed for productions at the National Theatre's Olivier, Cottesloe and Lyttelton stages as well as for the West End, Broadway, Donmar, Young Vic, Sheffield Crucible, Royal Court, RSC, Shakespeare's Globe and the Royal Opera House ... working with directors including Michael Grandage, Danny Boyle, Lyndsey Turner, Benedict Andrews, Sir Nicholas Hytner, Rupert Goold, Daniel Evans and Jamie Lloyd.